Our White Coat Ceremony

The perks of being the 'first' - be it first child in the family, first in class, first batch of a new burgeoning med school etc. - is that you get special attention and care; you get to try everything firsthand; you get to explore, discover, and set benchmarks. The downside of it is that you probably have a certain invisible expectation to live up to.

On 21st of September, 2012, we held our white coat ceremony, a ritual that many medical schools in the US (perhaps also some dental, pharmacy, physical therapy schools etc.) keep, to mark the student's transition from preclinical studies to the beginning of the journey of becoming a clinician. Most schools have it on the first day of medical school, but we have ours on the beginning of second year, as do our affiliated school in Baltimore, mostly because the school finds it more apt to robe us with the white coat after getting through a full year of medical studies and having some exposure in the clinics. As we start our second year of studies, we would appreciate the significance of the white coat more so than before, knowing that the journey has only just begun, and the path is long and tough ahead, that we have the responsibility to not only take care of our patients but also ourselves.

Many, if not all, people wanted to be a doctor at some point in their lives, yet not everyone makes it. Of those who did, some stumbled into it and felt that it was a mistake, but had no choice (or so they think) but to trudge on. For the 24 of us here, though, we're so thankful we have a second chance to achieve our dreams. And so on this day, we pledge our profession of values, using it as our guidance, our Polaris if you will, of our future conduct in our profession. Many thanks to all who made our dreams come true- friends, family, frenemies, etc. :P

The robing/cloaking of white coat :)

The last slide of our pledge of the profession of values.

My only photo with my parents in it. 

There's Dr. Nicole next to me, and Wei Jie and his parents.

My twin who doesn't look alike at all. lol.

She's scary- she can read my mind especially when it comes to food. 

Group photo with faculty.

Group photo funny version.

Two monkeys BFF :D

 The dean and my preceptor. 

End of day- happiness! 

The ladies.